City of Ember

City of Ember, a 2008 American science fantasy film, was directed by Gil Kenan and adapted from Jeanne DuPrau’s 2003 novel of the same name. Its cast includes Saoirse Ronan, Harry Treadaway, Mary Kay Place, Bill Murray, Martin Landau, Toby Jones, and Tim Robbins. Released by 20th Century Fox on October 10, 2008, the movie drew mixed reviews from critics and performed poorly at the box office, earning $17.9 million against a $55 million budget.

The story begins with an unspecified global disaster that forces survivors to build an underground city called Ember. A metal box, set to open after 200 years, is given to the first mayor, with instructions to pass it to each successor. When the seventh mayor dies suddenly, the box is forgotten in a closet. It opens on schedule but goes unnoticed. Decades later, Ember’s generator is failing, and supplies of food and medicine are running dangerously low.

At a graduation ceremony, Mayor Cole assigns jobs by lottery. Doon Harrow, son of inventor Loris Harrow, gets “Messenger,” while his classmate Lina Mayfleet is assigned “Pipeworks Laborer.” They secretly swap assignments, and Doon becomes an apprentice to elderly technician Sul. Lina, a descendant of the seventh mayor, finds the opened box and asks Doon to help decode it. They learn it contains instructions for an exit from the city, hidden in the Pipeworks. After evading a giant star-nosed mole, they discover Mayor Cole has been hoarding food in a secret vault. Lina tries to report him, but he captures her and attempts to take the box; she escapes during a blackout. Now fugitives, Lina, Doon, and Lina’s baby sister Poppy use the instructions and Sul’s help to flee via an underground river. Their actions cause panic in Ember, and the mayor locks himself in his vault, where the giant mole devours him. The trio reaches the surface, witnessing a sunrise for the first time. They spot Ember through a hole in the ground, too far to shout. They write a letter with escape instructions, tie it to a rock, and throw it down, where it lands at Loris’s feet.

In October 2004, Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman paid mid-six figures for the film rights to DuPrau’s novel, negotiating with Caroline Thompson for the adaptation and Gil Kenan to direct. The deal included an option on the sequel *The People of Sparks*. Filming was set to begin in early summer 2007 and wrap in October, a 16-week